Evelyn’s words caught in her throat as a faint blue light flickered inside the globe, forming and spreading into a ball. Then, the ball floated at the globe’s center.
She brushed her fingertips across the glass.
The blue light brightened.
A deafening pop made her turn her head to the left. The lantern next to her burned brighter, then changed from white to yellow to blue. Her hands flew to her ears, her head spinning left and right. All the lanterns along the row were changing color, in both directions, each one transforming with a pop and a puff of smoke.
Tilting her chin, Evelyn glimpsed the world beneath her. Everyone and everything had frozen in time. Feet had stopped, mid-step. Lips that had fallen open had failed to close. Hands and arms stayed suspended in the air, along with those of the mimes caught inside their ice cubes.
“Joyce!”
Evelyn’s breath returned to her in heavy gasps as she scanned the pier for her sister. With her fists tight around the handlebar of the stepladder, she twisted to where she noticed a hot dog stand, and the top of a head with golden blonde hair, but she wasn’t sure it was Joyce—she was too far away.
“Anybody?” she cried out. “For weeks I’ve been trying to tell you there’s something wrong with this light!”
But no one looked up. No one saw her. All seemed incapable of raising their eyes.
Blue light crackled from the base of the lantern and glided across the handlebar. Then, folded around Evelyn’s fingers; the light tugged at her hand. With a shriek, she tried to climb down the stepladder, but she couldn’t break free.
As the smoke from the lanterns cleared, the clouds that had obscured the starlight broke apart and vanished. Evelyn squinted at the spray of stars glittering the sky.
The moon brightened. A beam of moonlight stretched from the sky and joined the blue glow, intensifying the light until it shattered into a thousand sparkles.
Evelyn screamed.
The light that had pulled at her hand had spread and folded around her entire body, drawing the scream and the breath from her lungs until all sound faded.
All light dimmed.

About the Author
Chess Desalls is the author of award-winning young adult fiction. Her nonfiction writing has been included in academic and industry publications, with a focus on law and technology. She’s also a contributing editor for WritersTalk, South Bay Writers’ monthly newsletter. When she’s not reading or writing, she enjoys traveling and trying to stay in tune on her flute.

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